NEWSNIGHT editor Ian Katz tweeted that Rachel Reeves, Labour MP for Leeds West and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is not good telly, even at 11pm when viewers are tying to clear their mind for sleep. Any more of this and the BBC can forget about needing to broadcast golf ever again.

“Accidentally sent v ill-judged tweet referring to @RachelReevesMP’s appearance on NN. Thought was DM but in any circs wrong. Have apologised”.

The Labour Party, which Katz has been accused of supporting (he’s the former deputy editor of The Guardian), then states:

“We would like to express our anger and disappointment at your tweet following Newsnight’s interview with Rachel Reeves. It is completely unacceptable for a senior BBC editor to have expressed this view, whether or not you intended for it to be made public. It is vitally important that the Labour Party, our Shadow Cabinet and Newsnight viewers have confidence in the impartiality and fairness of your programme, and the criteria on which guests and interviews are judged. This incident undermines that confidence and it is important that this is redressed. Although a tweet of apology has been made, a full written public apology should be made by the end of the day.”

Katz then replies to that:

“I don’t accept your implication that my tweet reflects in any way on the impartiality or fairness of Newsnight, except that it reflects a determination to make Newsnight as interesting as I can. I am acutely aware, however, that we ask quite a lot of guests when we invite them into the studio to do late night interviews and my tweet hardly conveyed the appreciation we owe them for making the trip.”